Even James Earl Jones Would’ve Agreed With George Lucas on Which US President is Darth Vader

“George Bush is Darth Vader” – that is not a sentence one gets to hear every day. While neither concerned party was remotely present at the source of this conversation, mass sentiments had been piling up long enough to make even George Lucas come to that conclusion. And considering he is the creator and overseer of all things Star Wars, no one could dare question him any further.

But Bush is not the only one who Lucas has a problem with and neither is he the focal point of that initial condescending remark about Vader… Dick Cheney is. Often called the most powerful vice president in US history, Cheney aka Vice had tipped off Lucas enough to make him believe Cheney was not worthy of an endorsement from Darth Vader, evil incarnate himself.

George Lucas Gives His Two Cents on US Politics

American politics is not a topic of blasé conversation and neither is name-calling former US Presidents. With the subject now being more volatile than ever, such a remark could easily incite the wrath of several factions all across the board. However, George Lucas‘s comment was made in response to an exchange he had with a New York Times op-ed columnist during Obama’s ascension to the Presidency.

In 2009, shortly after President Barack Obama’s inaugural party in Washington, Lucas’s remarks caught the attention of a concerned Maureen Dowd, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary for her brilliant portfolio of 10 columns that extensively delved into the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton’s impeachment woes.

Given Dowd’s expertise on all the hot political events of the past couple of decades, she set off to clear the air about her conversation with the Star Wars creator regarding Dick Cheney. In her opinion, the former Vice President was worthy of being called Darth Vader, but Lucas profusely rejected that premise.

Instead, he corrected Dowd, saying: “George Bush is Darth Vader. Cheney is the emperor.” In a message, he further elaborated on his statement:

You know, Darth Vader is really a kid from the desert planet near Crawford, and the true evil of the universe is the emperor who pulls all the strings.

Relieved of the burden of all confusion, Dowd headed off to opinionate on other pressing matters while Lucas flew off to Europe on one of his many business meetings.

Dick Cheney & His Dubious Contribution to Politics

To simply claim Dick Cheney as the emperor from Star Wars without enough evidence to back one’s claims seems to be a bit radical. However, two decades ago, the behind-the-scenes power politics and Cheney’s contributions toward widely expanding the executive authority of his office started a lot of theories.

From encouraging war for personal profit to re-establishing torture as an accepted interrogation practice, there were a lot of circulating opinions as an explanation for the universal hatred directed at the Vice.

On online forums, succinct expositions can be found among the common masses who say that the reason why Cheney is hated so much is… “Well, because he approaches a level of villainy, Orwellian double speak, and tyrannical machinations that rivals Vladimir Putin. And we all know this and he knows we are powerless to do anything about it.”

Meanwhile, James Earl Jones – the voice of Darth Vader who helped breathe life into the menacing aura of the villain – would himself be a big supporter of George Lucas and his opinions on the former state of American politics. The voice actor had, after all, been a dreamer who worked on a 1972 movie titled The Man that tells the story of America’s first Black President merely 7 years after the abolishment of the Jim Crow laws.

Vice, a 2018 biographical political satire centered on Dick Cheney and his rise to power, is available to stream on Prime Video.